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Thursday, 8 September 2011

Filming with the Love Man in a Supernova

I was fortunate to be invited by my friend Ankit Love to round up a makeup and hair team for his latest music video to be released in early October. His ambitious project is called Beethoven Burst and is the main promotional video for his new album 'Forever'. Initially when he invited me to work on the video I was under the impression that simple, natural film makeup would be required. However, the idea quickly developed in his overactive mind into a full sci-fi short film complete with mermaids in space, a whole spaceship which he commissioned to be built in Elstree Studios in London, a full live band and a location day in Dover. This presented me with an amazing opportunity to come up with original, practical yet knockout makeup and hair designs which was thrilling for me.

Two of the most important aspects for myself during the prep were getting together an amazing and reliable team and making sure all the makeup and hair products and tools were covered. It took a lot of rapid searching to find my team as there was not much prep time, and I do think I lucked out on the amazing ladies that I found. My right-hand woman was Mili Currie, herself an established MUA with mountains of energy. Sofi Gorsuch and Nicola Thomas headed up the hair faction and did an amazing job making the hair concepts come to life - complete with headdresses that had to stay put while the dancers executed some hectic moves!

As for what makeup to purchase, it was no contest as I headed straight for the Illamasqua flagship store on Beak Street with my list. What a pleasure purchasing the new Skin Base Foundation in various shades, and the new and truly silky transluscent powder. I cannot over-emphasise how wonderful the Illamasqua staff are. They truly understand customer service without being overbearing, which is a subtle art. I left, as always, satisfied and uplifted.

There were loads of other bits that I had to shop around for as well, and in the end it was most fulfilling to sit down and go through my itinerary, making sure that everything was checked off. This is a shot the whole kit laid out for checking:

My 90% cruelty-free makeup and hair kit!!! (The MAC stuff is old...)

Some key cruelty-free products that I could not have done without on the shoot were:

My friend Jennifer Essex was the choreographer for the film - you can see my review of one of her shows here. Herself a well established contemporary dancer and choreographer, she has just been given a role in the new film Anna Karenina choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which is a huge achievement. You can visit Jen's website for more information about her work and performance dates.